Vanilla Twilight
by VampireGirlWithTheFangyFangs
Summary: Title from the song by Owl City. Darren and Stevie had known each other since they were little kids, but then Darren went off to college...and, well, you know the story. However, years later when most of the world knows him as Blaine Anderson, a familiar face throws Darren's life into a tailspin... Darren/OC. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

2011

"...And finally, a warm welcome to our newest dancer, Stevie McAddams!"

Darren blinked, staring at the woman Ryan was gesturing to. _No, it can't be_...

"I'm so pleased to be here!" She gushed, going bright pink. Most of the cast members laughed and smiled at her warmly. "Seriously! Glee is...well, my favourite show on Earth, and I'm so glad that I get to dance on it!"

Lea stepped forwards, a welcoming and radiant smile on her face. "Hi...Stevie! That's your name, right?" Stevie nodded, beaming madly. "I'm Lea...but you obviously knew that, since you like Glee, huh?"

"Yeah!" Stevie breathed nervously. "I know who everyone is...not in an obsessed stalker way, but..."

"It's fine!" Cory told her reassuringly. "So, I guess we don't really need to introduce everyone, do we?"

_What is she doing here?_ Darren thought desperately. _She can't dance to save her life...well, the last time I saw her she couldn't..._

As everyone started to disperse and talk among themselves, Darren caught Stevie's eye, and she smiled at him shyly. He gave her a small grin back.

_Maybe if I pretend I don't know her..._

Too late. She'd walked over to him, her arms crossed against her stomach in an almost nervously shy way.

"So," She started absently. "I..umm...it's been a while, huh?"

Darren coughed, nodding slightly. "I...guess so."

"You still remember me, right?" She checked, her eyes starting to fill with more worry. Darren gave in, nodding again. "Good...I...umm..."

"So, a dancer, huh?" He tried to joke. Stevie gave him a small smile. "Last time I saw you; you had two left feet and stomped on nearly everyone's toes. I guess you improved..."

"Obviously," She chuckled sweetly. Darren took in her appearance, searching for some similarities, some differences, anything.

He crossed his own arms across his chest cautiously. "You look...different." Stevie just nodded. "Look, I don't want this to be awkward," He offered, giving a sigh. "We used to be best friends, Stevie-"

"And more," She reminded him, looking a little uncomfortable. "Or have you forgotten about me already?"

Darren shook his head quickly. "What? God no!" He reached out to touch her shoulder. "It's a bit hard, since you're standing right here in front of me."

Stevie rolled her eyes. "Always the flirt," She laughed, getting more comfortable.

"How about I show you around set?" Darren offered, moving his hand off her shoulder and near her hands. "Come on. It's our lunch break anyway, and then we have a dance rehearsal, so if you have to eat, I'd do it pretty soon."

Eighteen Years ago

The first time they met was when Darren was seven.

Darren, like always, had been sitting out on his front lawn, playing with his new Ariel doll that his Mom and Dad had given him for his birthday a few months earlier. Just as he started humming the tune to "Under the Sea", he heard a small giggle and looked up.

"Hello?" He called brightly, hoping it wasn't the aliens his brother had warned him about. "Do you come in peace?"

"What?" He heard a small voice giggle. Darren squinted his eyes, wondering where the "alien" was. "What does that mean?" With that, a small figure stepped out from behind a bush, blushing shyly.

Darren blinked, realising he was looking at a girl...a younger girl. She smiled softly at him, clasping her hands together behind her back. "Oh..." Darren grinned at her. "Hi!"

"Hi!" She repeated, lifting her right hand to wave at him. "So...umm...are you playing Little Mermaid?"

Darren nodded, looking down at his doll for a moment. "Yeah," He said, holding the red-haired mermaid doll up. "This is Ariel."

"I know who Ariel is!" The little girl laughed, skipping over to sit next to him on the grass. She plonked herself down, crossing her legs and leaning forwards to look at him with her head resting on her hands. "Everyone knows who Ariel is!"

Darren started to grin again slowly. "Duh!" He scooted closer to her, sticking his hand out for her to shake in an eager manner. "My name's Darren and I like apples."

"Huh," She shook his hand. "I'm Stephanie and I like apples too..." She paused, thinking about it. "And bananas...ooh! And peaches!"

The boy chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I like how you can use bananas for phones, so that you can eat your lunch and talk to it at the same time." He passed Stephanie the Ariel doll to look at. "Do you have an Ariel doll?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, but she has a blue tail, not a green."

"Oh...are you sure it's an Ariel doll?"

"Yeah," Stephanie passed Darren his toy back. "I got it from a Disney store and she has red hair, so..." She shrugged. "I could always buy another one with a green tail, so this one isn't lonely."

"She's not gonna be lonely," Darren grinned gapily at his new friend. "She'll have my Ariel to play with, won't she?"

Stephanie nodded, grinning back. "Yeah, duh!" She picked Darren's doll up again and brushed the fake hair through with her fingers.

"So," Darren carried on brightly. "I'm seven. What about you?"

"Six," She admitted, looking at him in slight awe. "I've never met someone with a bigger age than me...Well, apart from grown-ups."

"I have," Darren laughed. "My big brother Chuck. He's awesome and cool, and he's nine."

Stephanie's eyes widened slightly, her mouth falling open. "That's so...cool."

"Yeah..." Darren studied his new playmate for a moment. "Hey, can I call you a nickname, since Stephanie is too long to say if I wanna say who you are." Stephanie blinked. "I know a guy called Stephen, in my class at school, and we all called him Steve..."

"But I'm a girl," She pointed out, kind of confused. "Just call me Stephanie, because that's for my name."

"No," Darren shook his head. "I wanna call you something cool, since you are cool." Darren grinned suddenly. "I'm gonna call you Stevie!"

"Stevie?" Her voice went up an octave. "But that's a boy's name! And it's not mine!"

"Too bad," He teased. "Your name is Stevie now."

She folded her arms, not looking impressed. "But my name isn't Stevie-"

"I wanna call you Stevie," Darren interrupted, folding his arms too. "You can call me a nickname too, but my name is easier to pronounce."

"No it's not!" She countered, going red in the face. "Don't call me it!"

"Too late, Stevie." Stevie opened her mouth to argue. "Who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind, y'know, if it doesn't suit you." Stevie huffed in an annoyed manner, giving up. Darren grinned again, glad he'd gotten his new friend to agree. "So, you like Disney films too?" She nodded, somewhat eager again.

"My favourite Disney princess is Belle!" She exclaimed energetically, all traces of annoyance forgotten. "But I also like Ariel, and I want to grow up and be Sleeping Beauty, and-"

"Why Sleeping Beauty?" Darren wrinkled his nose. "She just lies there and sleeps...and my brother asks why she doesn't die if she has to sleep for so long, since she'd get all old and wrinkly."

Stevie snorted slightly. "Sure...but she's a Princess, and Princesses don't die so easy." She paused. "They have a Prince to save them-"

"Like Prince Eric!" Darren cut in, his tone almost dreamy at the thought. "Prince Eric is so handsome, and I can see why Ariel likes him so much."

"Me too," Stevie agreed, unfastening to Velcro on Ariel's tail. "And Aladdin!"

"OhMyGod!" Darren exclaimed in a high voice, jumping up on his knees out of excitement. "I _LOVE_ Aladdin! My favourite character is the Genie, and I wanna grow up to be like him!" Darren brushed a loose curl away from his eyes so he could look at his new friend seriously. "My Mom and Dad took me and Chuck to see Aladdin when it came out in the cinema, so I said to my mom I wanted to be a genie when I grew up." Darren pouted puppy-like for a moment. "Mom said I couldn't, but then told me the guy who did his voice was an actor."

"What's that?" Stevie asked in wonder.

Darren puffed out his chest proudly. "It's where you play people on TV and in the movies."

"Oooohhhh..." Stevie's mouth fell open in amazement. "Yeah, I know what that is! Is that what you wanna be when you grow up?"

Darren nodded, grinning at the thought. "An actor...I also like singing though." Darren bit his lip in thought.

"Maybe you could do both," Stevie suggested brightly. "Like the guys in Aladdin."

Darren nodded again quickly, his childlike grin returning almost immediately. "Yeah! What about you?"

Stevie looked kind of taken aback for a moment. "I don't know..."

"Maybe we could be actors together," Darren suggested, sitting back on the grass again. "Are you any good at it?" Stevie shrugged, kind of confused as to how she was supposed to know. "Well...have you been in any school plays?"

"Yeah," She nodded. "Loads."

"Cool. And are you any good in them?"

"I..." Stevie bit her lip. "My mommy says I am, 'cause I don't forget my lines, and I look as if I mean the-"

"Exactly!" Darren burst out, unintentionally interrupting her. "So, we can be actors together, right?"

"Are you going to kill me if I say no?" She asked seriously.

"I might," Darren replied in an equally serious tone.

Stevie gulped. "I guess we can..."

"Great," Darren nodded to himself, satisfied with this arrangement. "Now, Ariel was looking for a dingle hopper to add to her collection, but we have to be careful, since there are sharks everywhere...so..."

**Haha, so...**

**Don't come at me with pitchforks. Like...for God's sake. I know it's random, but it wouldn't leave me alone...**

**So, you just read this, and it's crazy, but...review this maybe? ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

1994

Stevie giggled at her best friend, raising an eyebrow as she approached where he was lying on his lawn. "_What _are you doing, Darren? And don't say lying on the lawn, because I know you are."

"Waiting for you," Darren offered up smoothly, giving her a gappy smile. "So, how come you take forever coming back from school?"

Stevie sighed as she sat next to him. "It goes on forever?" She gave him a small smile. "I don't know...how come you don't come to my school, Dare?"

"'Cause I go to one that's just for boys," He reminded her, closing his eyes and basking in the rays of sunshine. "And you go to one for just girls...still, we can see each other after school and on weekends, right?"

"When else?" Stevie agreed, deciding to lay her head next to his on the lawn. She sighed peacefully. "So, whatcha looking at?"

Darren cracked an eye open. "I dunno 'bout you, but I saw a dragon breathing out popsicle sticks out of its nose."

Stevie giggled madly. "No you didn't!"

"I did too!"

Stevie scoffed. "Yeah, well I see something a lot better than that."

"What?"

Stevie paused for dramatic effect as she studied the clouds. "I actually see a lion flying to the moon."

"Oh my God," Darren sat up, eyes wide. "That is so cool! Disney should totally make a film about a lion flying to the moon, it would be so cool!"

Stevie also sat up, nodding quickly. "Oh my God, and imagine if we could go with that lion to the moon..."

"We could build fun schools up there," Darren continued dreamily, eyes glazing over. "They teach us how to walk without gravity and stuff, and do magic, so we can light fires without matches-"

"Why would we want to light fires?" Stevie pointed out.

Darren thought hard. "To keep warm, I guess. Do you think it'd be cold on the moon?"

"Probably," Stevie agreed, shutting her eyes. "It's really high and in space, so it's going to be really cold...if we go, we should bring blankets, just in case, since we don't want to freeze and die."

Darren hummed in agreement. "Definitely. Maybe I could persuade my Mom to let me bring the old one she keeps on her and my Dad's bed." Darren laughed to himself. "It has a Philippines flag on it."

"Philippines? What's that?"

Darren's eyes snapped open and he gaped at her. "It's a place! My Mom was born there, but then she came here and met my dad!" Darren shook his head at his best friend. "My mom said it's awesome, and special because she's from there."

"Oh," Stevie didn't really know what that meant, but decided to pretend she did. "Like...a country, yeah?" Darren nodded. "Oh, I get it." She grinned at him. "My Mom is from England, and my Dad is from Ireland."

"OhMyGod!" Darren squeaked. "My dad isn't from Ireland, but his family is!"

Stevie's mouth dropped open. "That is so creepy!" She exclaimed; eyes wide open again, she shuffled closer to her best friend. "We could be twins!"

"No we couldn't!" Darren argued gently, chuckling. "You're blonde and I'm dark-haired...and your eyes are blue, but mine are hazel...not to mention I'm seven and you're only six."

"First of all, six is not that little compared to seven," Stevie rolled her eyes slightly. "Second, not like twins that look alike but as in...act-the-same-kind-of-twins."

"Oooh," Darren nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Both our dads are Irish in some way, we've both got curly hair..."

"We both love Disney," Stevie added smartly. She sighed after a moment. "I wish you _were_ my twin brother."

Darren bit his lip. "Why?"

"I don't have one," She shrugged slightly. "And you're cool. And fun. Plus, I have no one to play with when we're not out here."

"You can borrow my brother if you want," Darren offered. "Chuck is awesome...he could teach you to sing and play guitar, 'cause he's helping me." The older boy thought hard for a minute. "How about...you come 'round mine tomorrow or something? You know, for dinner?"

Stevie brightened. "Oh, that sounds nice!" She agreed before worry set into her again. "But what if your brother and parents don't like me?"

"Of course they'll like you," Darren scoffed, looking fairly assured. "Seriously. The problem is that they'll like you too much."

Stevie blinked, not sure how they could like her _too_ much. "I...Is that a bad thing?"

Darren shook his head at her reassuringly. "No, of course not." He smiled at her. "I'll go ask them now, 'kay?"

2011

"So," Stevie started, her arms swinging loosely by her sides. "How's your parents? And Chuck? I heard his music on YouTube the other day." She smiled to herself. "He's...really good. I'm kinda proud of him, even though he's, like, three years older than me."

Darren laughed. "Yeah...my parents are good too; they're actually the same as they were before...umm..."

"Before you left for college," Stevie finished, going slightly red when he just nodded. "You know, you used to be able to tell me everything, Darren..."

"I know," Darren admitted, looking slightly ashamed. "But, Stevie, that was about six years ago..."

Stevie sighed. "Right." She put on a smile again. "You have no idea how excited I am, Dare, that I get to see you again." Darren smiled at her, reaching to hold her hand like they used to. "I...God, I missed you so much, y'know? It's been weird not seeing you or talking to you for six years."

"It kinda was," Darren agreed, leading her to sit on a Glee Club chair. The rest of the cast were in the dance studio, and since Ryan had managed to pick up on something going on between Stevie and Darren (the annoyingly knowing man he was), the two had been left alone to "catch up". "I guess I got busy, though, so it wasn't as bad after a while...Still," He grinned, eyes shining. "It's so amazing to see you again, Stevie...and how the hell did you get to come on Glee to dance?"

Stevie laughed the comment off. "With a lot of practice?" She offered, shrugging. "I love Glee...not just because you got on it, of course...and I knew I'd never get on here for singing or acting, so I decided to try dancing."

Darren frowned slightly, his forehead creasing in an adorable way. "Stevie, you're good at singing and acting. Why wouldn't you get on here if you auditioned?"

She went red. "Well...I'm too shy to audition...and I know Glee is a TV Show that celebrates differences...but I couldn't help but worry that I wouldn't be what they wanted..."

"Well, look at me," Darren pointed out. "I'm probably the opposite of Blaine...well, not completely, but...still." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Look at Heather, Stevie; she was brought on here to teach Chris and Jenna to dance, and has ended up being a well-loved regular for the past year and a half."

"Yeah, well," Stevie sighed. "She's clever, and she comes up with these one-liners and stuff..." She shrugged sadly. "I probably couldn't even make one person laugh, let alone an entire fandom."

"Hey," Darren frowned again. "Don't put yourself down. You're awesome in your own way, Stevie, and Glee is lucky to have you."

She went red at the praise, but didn't press the matter further. "Okay. Right. Anyway," She leaned forwards to rest her cheek on the palm of her hand. "Enough of me and how I got here. What have you been doing the last six years?"

"Being a Starkid," Darren said, thinking over the amount of time it had been. "You've seen our musicals, right?"

"A fair few of them," Stevie admitted, grinning unashamedly. Darren felt himself go slightly pink.

"Right...well, then you know I wrote music for some of them, right?" Stevie nodded eagerly. "And I did a few gigs on TV shows...and then I got on Glee."

"You forgot about your EP," Stevie added in smugly.

Darren stared at her. "Are you seriously one of my fan girls now? 'Cause if you are, it's gonna be pretty weird talking to you every day on set."

Stevie scoffed at his remark. "Please. Just because I checked up on my old best friend now and then, it doesn't make me a stalker."

"Of course not..." Darren gave another small laugh. "Well, anyway, I think I'm going to have to go to dance rehearsal soon, which means you probably will too."

"Oh yeah, I'm a dancer," Stevie slapped her forehead with the back of her hand lightly. "Duh."

The short man grinned affectionately at her. "C'mon, I'll walk you up there."

1994

Stevie couldn't help but tug her dress down self-consciously as she waited for Darren to come and meet her outside; what if Darren's family didn't like her? What if they didn't want them being friends anymore? What if-

"Wow, Stevie! You look great!"

Stevie's head jerked to look at her best friend nervously. "You think? My mommy told me to wear a dress, but I didn't know if it would suit me..."

Darren nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! If it were my mommy, she'd say you look...uhh...yeah, beautiful!" Stevie giggled, flushing bright red. "C'mon, my brother said if we meet him before dinner, he'll let us play on his guitar!"

Darren pulled at her hand, and she followed him on instinct; her nervousness started to return, and she anxiously combed through her hair as he dragged her through the front door to his house.

"Mom!" He called, his eyes sparkling with childish excitement. "Mommy, my friend's here!"

Stevie squeezed his hand just as a woman – Darren's mother – came out of the kitchen. She smiled kindly at the little girl, and Stevie gave her a weak smile. "So this is your friend?"

"Uh-huh!" Darren replied cheerfully, beaming up at his mom. "Stevie. I gave her the name Stevie, 'cause it's better than her other name."

Stevie gulped and let go of Darren's hand. "P-Please to meet you, Mrs Criss."

The woman laughed. "Sweetie, call me Cerina!" Stevie nodded quickly while Cerina turned to her son. "Have you made her nervous? What have you told her?"

"Nothing!" Darren protested, laughing along with his mother. "She's just shy, Mom. Like...really shy."

"There's no need for you to be shy, dear," Cerina said warmly, and Stevie took a step forwards nervously. "It's not like we'll bite your head off."

"Oh, no," Stevie agreed quickly. "Of course not. It's just that..." Your son is my best friend in the whole world, and I want you to like me. "I get...shy."

Darren's mother laughed. "And polite too, I see." Stevie went even redder, not used to compliments. "Tell you what, you two can do me a job-"

"Is it getting Chuck out of his bedroom?" Darren piped up, already bouncing on his toes out of excitement. "Can we? Because he promised us he'd show us that song on the guitar, and-"

"Alright, alright!" Cerina laughed, waving a hand at her son. "Go and find him before you start bouncing around and break something."

**So, er...I don't know how long it's been, but I know it's been forever, so have some snuggly!baby!darren and his best friend :p**

**Reviews greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

Summer of 1994

Darren was never going to forgive himself for that day. Ever.

It had started innocently enough; Stevie's parents were working so his best friend was staying with the Criss family for the day. Stevie had entered the Criss house, beaming madly, only to be nearly-knocked over by the whirlwind that was her best friend.

"Did you bring a swimsuit?" Darren asked excitably, bouncing up and down on the spot. Stevie nodded. "OhMyGod, you've got to get in the swimming pool! It's so fun, and it cools you down when it's hot and-"

"And I think you just woke me up," Chuck muttered, coming down the stairs and rubbing his eyes. He turned to Stevie, looking sort of surprised. "How can you let him yell in your ear like that?"

Stevie giggled. "I'm used to it."

"I'm not that loud!" Darren protested loudly, contradicting his own point. "Go away, Chuck, she's _my_ friend!"

Chuck laughed, ruffling his little brother's hair. "'Kay. If you say so." Chuck sniffed the air slowly. "Hey, hasn't Mom started breakfast yet? Being woken up by an insane seven year old makes me hungry."

Darren grumbled something unintelligible and punched his brother light-heartedly on the arm. Chuck laughed. "Come on, don't be like that. Okay, today if you guys go in the pool I'll sit and play you music, just for the fun of it." Darren's expression softened and he nodded hopefully. "Right, now I need breakfast."

* * *

"BET YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!"

"YEAH I CAN!"

"NO, YOU CAN'T! YOU'RE A GIRL!"

"I thought children stopped screaming as they got older," Chuck muttered to his mother, strumming on his guitar strings.

Cerina laughed slightly. "They're overexcited, Chuck. I mean, you were at that age. And don't tell me you don't yell while playing in the pool."

"DARREN, LET GO OF MY HAIR!" Stevie screamed, splashing him with water. Darren spluttered, releasing her hair from his grip reluctantly.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're gonna be so sorry!"

"Kids!" Cerina called to them, and both children looked up from their game. "I'm going inside for a minute to get some more drinks. Try not to drown each other!"

Darren grinned cheerfully, nodding his head. Chuck stood up too, carefully placing his guitar down on the chair. "I'm going in too," Chuck decided. "I'm too hot out here, so I'm gonna go put my shorts on."

"Join us for a swim!" Stevie requested, kicking her legs happily. "Come on, it's fun!"

Chuck grinned. "Alright, I'll go and get my swim trunks then."

"No," Darren rolled his eyes at his best friend slightly as his brother retreated inside. "We don't want him playing with us – it's just our game!"

Stevie blinked at him, long lashes fluttering slightly. "But I like Chuck – he's nice and fun."

"I know...but you're _my_ friend," Darren pouted adorably. Stevie giggled. "It's not funny!"

"Yeah it is!" She laughed, swimming over to the ladder and climbing out of the pool. "You're getting jealous!"

"No I'm not!" Darren protested, following her out of the pool. Stevie took a long sip of her lemonade, gasping as she did so. Darren took a long swig of his too, and glared at her. "I'm not jealous! Just...you're my friend, okay?"

"I know," She said, looking somewhat bemused. She went to stand by the edge of the pool, grinning at him. "But admit it; you're jealous!"

"Am not!"

"You are!"

Darren was getting annoyed now. "I'm not! I just don't want you to be friends with him and decide he's cooler!"

That was when it started to go wrong; Darren turned around to take another drink of his lemonade, not watching Stevie anymore. Stevie was laughing and giggling one minute; and then the next...she wasn't. Darren didn't realise until he put his glass down and turned to see that she wasn't there.

"Stevie?"

Panic started to course through him. "STEVIE!"

2011

"So, who's the brunette?"

Darren looked up at Naya, who had come over to talk to him. He blinked slightly before he realised what she was asking him. "Oh. Stevie?" Naya nodded. "She's...an old friend of mine."

Naya smiled slightly. "I see..." The smile soon became quite mischievous. "Just friends?"

Darren laughed slightly. "Yes, just friends." _Well, now we are_...

"That's why Ryan excused you from the first half an hour of dance rehearsal," Naya muttered subtly. "I take it you didn't know she was coming."

"Not at all," Darren agreed, feeling a bit lost by the whole thing. "I'm...shocked. I haven't seen her in about six years."

Naya blinked, understanding as best she could. "That sounds hard," She sympathised. "Really. What happened between you two?"

Darren shrugged, not sure he really wanted to disclose the real reasons. "I guess we just...grew apart."

_More like couldn't handle long-distance..._

1994

"STEVIE!" Darren started to scream, tears stinging his eyes. He carefully raced to the edge of the pool, and gaped in horror at the sight he saw.

Stevie was struggling at the bottom of the pool, spluttering for air but unable to swim up to the surface. Darren guessed that it was the shock of falling in that had hit her, and she'd lost all her air from gasping out in surprise. He started to panic, not knowing what to do; should he get his Mom and Chuck? Should he dive in and save her himself?

All he had to do was take one look at Stevie and he jumped into the pool.

Suddenly, his eyes were starting to sting from the chlorine; he held his breath as best he could, and started scrabbling to grab at his best friend. He pulled at her arm, heaving as best he could. He knew, however, that if he took too long trying to save her, then he'd be stuck down there too.

Suddenly, hands grabbed under his armpits, and he felt himself being dragged towards the surface. His grip on Stevie tightened, and he pulled her with him. The second his head rose out of the water, he took a big gulping breathe of the air, blinking the chlorine out of his eyes.

"Jesus, Darren!" He heard his brother saying in a rather high voice. "What the..." Chuck stopped, finally noticing Stevie. "MOM!" He turned back to the two children. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get some towels...MOM!"

Chuck raced to the garden table, pulling two towels off of the chairs. He quickly hurried to wrap his brother and brother's friend up, still yelling for his mother.

"Come on," Darren pleaded, throwing the towel over Stevie. "Breathe!" He thumped Stevie's back, and she started to cough and splutter, water coming up. Cerina came out of the house, looking slightly annoyed as to why her eldest son was yelling – and then she saw.

"Stevie!" She cried, racing over to help. "What happened?" Stevie coughed some more, face bright red. Cerina turned to her sons. "What? What happened?"

"Stevie fell in the pool," Darren explained, starting to shiver. "A-And I went in to help her."

Cerina gave her son a pat on the back. "Thank You, Darren. That was very brave of you."

Darren felt awful about it though; he shouldn't have turned his back on Stevie. Sure, she'd been the one mucking around...but she was a guest as his house...and she was a year younger than him...

No matter how many times in the future Stevie would tell him it was alright, and that it was her fault, he'd just shake his head and protest that he should have been looking after her. Sometimes...well, he'd have nightmares about the whole ordeal; what if he hadn't fished her out?

He never forgave himself for it.

2011

Stevie seemed to be able to make friends quickly with the Glee Cast; by lunchtime the next day, Darren noticed that Stevie was talking a lot to Heather and Vanessa, giggling and chatting as if they'd known each other for years. Darren felt kind of warm and fuzzy that his old best friend was getting on so well here.

"I like her," Chris muttered the day after Darren noticed this. "She's sweet...I'm just waiting for Hollywood to change that." Darren scoffed slightly. "Anyway...have you read the script for the next episode?"

Darren shook his head. "Not yet. I'm just trying to remember this episode's lines, 'cause if I fuck them up we're screwed."

"Looks like we're going to a gay bar," Chris mentioned slyly, and Darren's eyes widened slightly. "I'd also break out the chapstick if I were you, judging by the title of the episode."

"What?" Darren asked desperately, like a little puppy.

The younger man chuckled. "_The First Time_."

"Holy shit," Darren muttered. "Does that mean what I think it means?" Chris nodded, grinning. "Holy fuck. We really are changing the world, aren't we?"

"Hmm..." Chris half-agreed, looking slightly weirded out by Darren's reaction. "One step at a time; gay kissing, gay dancing, gay love proclamations..."

"Gay sex," Darren finished, grinning like an idiot. "This should be fun."

* * *

By the time filming for "The First Time" had started, it was obvious that Stevie had been accepted as part of the "Glee family", as the actors on set called it. Maybe his fellow co-stars were only talking to her because they knew she used to be friends with Darren now (Naya was very much a gossip sometimes) or it was because she was being all friendly to them; Darren didn't know.

One thing he did realise, though, half way through the dance rehearsal for "_America_" in the studio was that Stevie really did know how to dance now; this kind of perplexed Darren, especially since the last time he saw her she was pretty much average at dancing. However, he lost that train of thought seconds later as his brain suddenly started to register the way she was moving...okay, maybe it wasn't a sexy dance...but God did those legs bring back memories...

Darren coughed, flushing as he realized what he was thinking about. It was wrong for him to objectify her like that...and he had a girlfriend. It wasn't like he didn't see sexy women all the time (both because of the girlfriend and because of his female co-stars), so Darren brushed it off. It was probably just the shock of seeing her – seeing her _dancing_ of all things – that was making him think like this.

Of course, he also soon remembered that Stevie was a huge Glee fangirl; this was more than clear when she was listening to Darren describing what scenes he had to do and she kept giggling with giddy excitement. He kept raising his eyebrows at her in question, and she flushed slightly. "Sorry...I'm a Klainer."

"Thought so."

1994

"I'm really sorry," Darren repeated meekly, still wrapped up in a Finding Nemo towel.

Stevie sneezed before answering. "I-It's fine," She sniffled. "Really. Actually, you saved me." She grinned slightly. "You're like a Prince Charming, Darren."

Darren grinned, slightly cheered up by the idea. "Really?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!" She beamed. "If you're a Prince Charming, can I be your Princess?"

The curly-haired boy paused slightly. "But...don't the Prince and Princess always get married?"

"You don't want to marry me?" Stevie asked, slightly hurt.

Darren started to panic and ramble worriedly. "No, I do! B-But I was just saying we're not grown-ups yet, so we can't." He also paused. "Do you want to marry _me_?"

Stevie giggled excitedly. "I-I guess so." She fluttered her eyelashes at him. "You're an excellent Prince, so...yeah."

"Wait!" Darren decided. "If we're going to get married, I need to ask you properly...you know, all the "down on one knee" stuff that the movies tell you to do."

"And a ring!" Stevie reminded him, suddenly not feeling cold or ill anymore. "Ooh! Ooh! We need to invite all our families and stuff!"

"My brother can play music while we dance together!" Darren planned excitedly. "A-And then we can go and live in a big castle somewhere-"

"With horses and lots of different pets." Stevie paused for a moment, considering. "But no disgusting creepy crawlies."

Darren nodded in agreement. "And then...we'll start a family!"

Chuck happened to walk in at that moment, and he stared at his brother oddly. "Dare, that's a bit...far away in the future." He chuckled, teasing his little brother. "And, who knows, maybe you'll marry different people..."

Darren looked at Chuck, and suddenly decided to do something. He grabbed his best friend's hands, squeezing them in his. He stared into her eyes, hoping she'd get the message. "Stevie," He muttered under his breath so only she could hear him. "You have to be honest with me..." He eyed his brother one last time before staring at her again. "You have to promise to love me and only me...and if any other Princes or non-Princes ask you to marry them, you can't."

Stevie nodded, silently swearing on her heart. "Yes, of course. But _you _can't marry any other girls as well – you're my Prince."

"Agreed."

**Hehe...cute baby fluff at the end :)**

**Review please!**


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